Farmers who gave their lands for a project that has now been redesigned are being asked to resume their lands by paying more than three times the value they got as compensation.
The farmers under Thotapally reservoir whose lands were not utilised for the project are being asked to pay ₹7.1 lakh per acre to resume their lands while they were paid a compensation of ₹2.1 lakh per acre when it was acquired in 2008. In 2008, the government acquired 1,605 acres from six villages -- Gogillapur, Ramachandrapur, Thotapally, Narayanapur, Obulapur and Varikota -- under the Pranahita-Chevella project, envisaged by former Chief Minister late Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy. The project area, which was in Karimnagar district, has now come under Siddipet district after the reorganisation process.
However, after the formation of the State in 2014, the Pranahita-Chevella project was redesigned by Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao as Kaleshwaram Project and at many places the project underwent lot of changes. For the new project, it was decided to use Thotapally tank as reservoir. Godavari water would be brought from Mid-Manair to Thotapally tank and from there to Gourelli project through canals and underground tunnels. The land requirement was reduced drastically and only 100 acres was used so far out of the land acquired a decade ago. Karimnagar Lok Sabha member B. Vinod Kumar and Husnabad MLA V. Satish Kumar, who visited Ramachandrapur on Tuesday, announced that the government is planning to return the unutilised land to farmers from whom it was acquired.
If the land was acquired under the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency Act - 2013, it has to be returned to the original owners if it is not used for the purpose within a stipulated period of five years. Since the land was not acquired under the 2013 Act, the government is planning to ask farmers to pay the market price to resume the lands.
“I was present when the MP and the MLA made the offer. They had cited the price based on the recent land purchase made by the government,” Husnabad Revenue Divisional Officer told The Hindu . “The land was acquired under the Land Acquisition Act 1894 under which there is no provision to return the land. The provision is there only in the LA Act- 2013,” he explained. However, a final decision has not yet been taken on the rate of the land. Karimnagar Collector wrote a letter to the Chief Commissioner of Land Administration (CCLA) on the subject, the RDO added.
“Many of the farmers are not in a position to buy the lands even for the price which they were paid about a decade back as the amount was already spent and majority of them are small and marginal farmers,” B. Anjaneyulu, vice- president of Ramchandrapur told The Hindu . However, if they have to resume lands, farmers may be able to pay the amount they had received in the past, he explained.
“The administration says that farmers can get back their lands by paying ₹7.1 lakh per acre which is the present market value or else the land will be used for setting up an agriculture research centre or a food processing unit. The final decision on the rate will be taken by the Revenue Divisional Officer shortly,” he added.
